JP2008104539A - Walking cane and elastic damper used for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a walking cane capable of effectively absorbing an impact transmitted to a shaft from the ground. <P>SOLUTION: The walking cane includes the shaft 4 and an elastic damper 8 provided at the lower end of the shaft 4. The elastic damper 8 is provided with a fixing part 18 to which the lower end of the shaft 4 is fixed at the upper end of one side 16, a ground contacting lower end 22 at the lower end of the other side 20 of the elastic damper, and an impact absorbing space 24 between the fixing part 18 and the contacting lower end 22. A ground contacting face 28 of the elastic damper 8 slants down from the one side 16 to the contacting lower end 22 of the other side 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a walking stick used when walking and an elastic buffer used in the walking stick.

  In recent years, a walking exercise such as Nordic walking, which can effectively exercise the whole body, has been attracting attention. In such Nordic walking, a pair of walking canes is used (for example, see Patent Document 1). This walking cane includes a shaft body, a grip body provided at the upper end portion of the shaft body, and an elastic buffer provided at the lower end portion of the shaft body. The elastic shock absorber is configured in a block shape, and a mounting recess to which the lower end of the shaft body is mounted is provided at the upper end of the elastic buffer, and the elastic buffer body is communicated with the mounting recess. A cavity is provided. The hollow portion is disposed on the axis of the shaft body, and the ground contact surface of the elastic buffer body extends perpendicularly to the axis of the shaft body.

  The above Nordic walking is performed as follows, for example. Holding the walking cane in both hands and holding the grip body, move the right arm (or left arm) forward with the left foot (or right foot) in front, and poke the ground almost vertically with the walking cane. The grounding surface of the elastic cushion is grounded to the ground. Then, at the same time as stepping on the right foot (or left foot), the right arm (or left arm) is moved backward by pushing the walking cane backward with the right arm (or left arm), and the left arm (or right arm) is further moved forward. And repeat the above operation. By walking while swinging a pair of walking canes back and forth with both arms in this way, not only the muscles of the lower body but also the muscles of the upper body can be used, thereby enabling effective whole body exercise. .

JP 2001-120318 A

  In the conventional walking cane as described above, when the grounding surface of the elastic buffer is grounded to the ground so that the ground sticks in the vertical direction with the walking cane, the elastic buffer is elastically deformed and the hollow portion Functions as an air cushion, so that the shock transmitted from the ground to the shaft body is absorbed. However, since the cavity is disposed on the axis of the shaft body and the grounding surface of the elastic buffer extends perpendicularly to the axis of the shaft body, the grounding surface of the elastic buffer is grounded to the ground. In addition, there is a problem that an impact that could not be absorbed is easily transmitted to the lower end portion of the shaft body, and an impact transmitted to the shaft body from the ground cannot be effectively absorbed.

  The objective of this invention is providing the walking stick which can absorb the impact transmitted to a shaft body from the ground effectively, and the elastic buffer used for this.

In the walking cane according to claim 1 of the present invention, the walking cane comprising a shaft body and an elastic buffer provided at the lower end of the shaft body,
A mounting portion to which a lower end portion of the shaft body is attached is provided at an upper end portion on one side of the elastic buffer body, and a grounding lower end portion is provided at a lower end portion on the other side of the elastic buffer body. An impact absorbing space is provided between the grounding lower end portion, and the grounding surface of the elastic buffer body is inclined downward from one side toward the grounding lower end portion on the other side. .

  In the walking cane according to claim 2 of the present invention, the mounting portion of the elastic cushion is provided with a mounting recess extending downward, and the lower end of the shaft body is detachably mounted in the mounting recess. It is characterized by being.

  Furthermore, in the walking cane according to claim 3 of the present invention, the other side surface of the elastic buffer is curved outward, and the shock absorbing space extends with its width expanding downward. It is characterized by that.

  In the walking cane according to claim 4 of the present invention, the width of the divided portion on one side of the elastic buffer divided by the shock absorbing space is configured to be 1.5 to 2.5 cm, and the other side The width | variety of this division part is comprised by 0.5-1.0 cm, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  Furthermore, in the walking cane according to claim 5 of the present invention, a width between the lower end of the ground contact on the other side of the elastic buffer body and the axis of the shaft body is configured to be 1.5 to 2.5 cm. It is characterized by.

The walking cane according to claim 6 of the present invention is characterized in that an anti-slip concave pattern or an anti-slip convex pattern is provided on the ground contact surface of the elastic buffer.
Furthermore, in the walking cane according to claim 7 of the present invention, an impact absorbing member is disposed in the impact absorbing space, and the hardness of the impact absorbing member is smaller than the hardness of the elastic buffer. It is characterized by being.

Moreover, in the elastic buffer according to claim 8 of the present invention, the elastic buffer is attached to the lower end of the shaft body of the walking cane,
An elastic buffer body, a mounting recess provided extending downward at one upper end of the elastic buffer body, a grounding lower end provided at the lower end of the other side of the elastic buffer body, and the mounting A shock absorbing space provided between the recess and the lower end of the ground contact,
A lower end portion of the shaft body is detachably attached to the mounting recess, and a grounding surface of the elastic buffer body is inclined downward from one side toward the grounding lower end portion on the other side. Features.

  According to the walking cane according to claim 1 of the present invention, the mounting portion is provided at the upper end portion on one side of the elastic shock absorber, and the ground lower end portion is provided at the lower end portion on the other side of the elastic shock absorber, A shock absorbing space is provided between the mounting portion and the grounding lower end portion, and the grounding surface of the elastic buffer body is inclined downward from one side toward the grounding lower end portion on the other side. When the ground is projected in a substantially vertical direction, the bottom end of the grounding of the elastic buffering body comes into contact with the ground, whereby both sides of the shock absorbing space are spread outward, that is, one side of the elastic buffering body and Each of the other sides expands outward and is elastically deformed, so that the impact from the ground can be absorbed by the impact absorbing space. In addition, since the shock absorbing space and the grounded lower end are respectively disposed at positions deviated from the axis of the shaft body, it is difficult for the shock that could not be absorbed by the shock absorbing space to be transmitted to the lower end of the shaft body. Thus, it is possible to effectively absorb the impact transmitted from the ground to the shaft body.

  In the walking cane according to claim 2 of the present invention, the lower end portion of the shaft body is detachably mounted in the mounting recess provided in the mounting portion of the elastic buffer body. If the elastic shock absorber deteriorates due to wear of the grounding surface due to friction with the ground, etc., remove the old elastic shock absorber from the lower end of the shaft body and attach a new elastic shock absorber to the lower end of the shaft body. Well, it is possible to easily replace the elastic buffer with a new one, and it is possible to provide a walking cane excellent in economy.

  Furthermore, according to the walking cane according to claim 3 of the present invention, the other side surface of the elastic buffer body is curved outward, and the shock absorbing space extends downward in width. Therefore, when the grounding lower end portion of the elastic shock absorber is grounded to the ground so that the ground sticks in the vertical direction with the walking cane, both sides of the shock absorbing space are easily spread outward, that is, the elastic shock absorber. One side and the other side of each of the two are spread outward and are easily elastically deformed, thereby making it possible to more effectively absorb the impact transmitted from the ground to the shaft body.

  In the walking cane according to claim 4 of the present invention, the width of the divided portion on one side of the elastic buffer divided by the shock absorbing space is configured to be 1.5 to 2.5 cm, and the other side Since the width of the divided portion is 0.5 to 1.0 cm, it is possible to sufficiently absorb the impact transmitted from the ground to the shaft body, and to sufficiently secure the strength of the elastic buffer body. Is possible.

  Furthermore, according to the walking cane according to claim 5 of the present invention, the width between the grounded lower end on the other side of the elastic buffer and the axis of the shaft body is configured to be 1.5 to 2.5 cm. Therefore, the impact transmitted from the ground to the shaft body can be sufficiently absorbed, and the strength of the elastic buffer can be sufficiently secured.

  In the walking cane according to claim 6 of the present invention, since the ground contact surface of the elastic buffer body is provided with the anti-slip concave pattern or the anti-slip convex pattern, The grip force of the ground surface against the ground can be increased, and the ground surface of the elastic buffer can be prevented from sliding relative to the ground.

  Furthermore, according to the walking cane according to claim 7 of the present invention, the shock absorbing member is disposed in the shock absorbing space, and the hardness of the shock absorbing member is configured to be smaller than the hardness of the elastic buffer. Therefore, if the grounding lower end of the elastic shock absorber is grounded to the ground so that the ground can be projected almost vertically with the walking cane, the shock that could not be absorbed by the shock absorbing space is further absorbed by this shock absorbing member. Thus, the impact transmitted to the shaft body can be further reduced, and the impact absorbing power of the elastic buffer can be further increased.

  Further, according to the elastic shock absorber according to claim 8 of the present invention, the elastic shock absorber main body has the same configuration as that of the elastic shock absorber according to claim 1, so that the elastic shock absorber main body is walked. When the walking stick is attached to the lower end of the walking cane and the ground is pushed almost vertically, the grounding lower end of the elastic shock absorber body comes into contact with the ground. Are spread outward, and the same effect as in the first aspect can be achieved. In addition, since the lower end portion of the shaft body is detachably mounted in the mounting recess, for example, when the elastic buffer body deteriorates due to wear of the grounding surface of the elastic buffer body due to friction with the ground, It becomes possible to easily replace the elastic buffer body with a new one.

  Hereinafter, with reference to an accompanying drawing, an embodiment of a walking stick according to the present invention and an elastic buffer used for the walking stick will be described. 1 is a view showing a walking cane according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an elastic buffer of the walking cane of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an elastic buffer of FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which earth | grounded the earthing | grounding lower end part of the body to the ground.

  With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, the illustrated walking stick 2 includes a shaft body 4, a grip body 6 provided at an upper end portion of the shaft body 4, and an elastic buffer provided at a lower end portion of the shaft body 6. And a body 8. Hereinafter, each of these components will be described in detail.

  The shaft body 4 is formed in an elongated rod shape having a circular cross section, and is formed of, for example, aluminum, an aluminum alloy, carbon fiber, or the like. The length of the shaft body 4 is, for example, about 100 cm, and the outer diameter is, for example, about 1.2 cm.

  The grip body 6 extends upward from the upper end portion of the shaft body 4, and a strap member 10 made of, for example, a string or a belt is provided on the upper portion of the grip body 6. By gripping the grip body 6 with the hand after passing the wrist through the strap member 10, the shaft body 4 hangs on the wrist via the strap member 10 when the hand is released from the grip body 6, and is used for walking. The walking cane 2 is not dropped on the ground 12 during use of the cane 2. The strap member 10 may be provided on the side surface of the grip body 6.

  The elastic shock absorber 8 includes an elastic shock absorber main body 14, a mounting portion 18 provided at the upper end of one side 16 of the elastic shock absorber main body 14, and a grounding provided at the lower end of the other side 20 of the elastic shock absorber main body 14. A lower end portion 22 and an impact absorbing space 24 provided between the mounting portion 18 and the grounded lower end portion 22 are provided.

  The elastic buffer body 14 is made of an elastic material such as an olefin-based or styrene-based thermoplastic elastomer, a rubber material such as chloroprene rubber or urethane rubber, or a synthetic resin such as EVA or urethane resin. Is, for example, about 60 ± 5 degrees. A mounting recess 18 having a circular cross section is provided in the mounting portion 18 of the elastic buffer body 14 so as to extend downward (downward in FIG. 3). The outer diameter of the mounting recess 26 is the lower end of the shaft body 4. It is slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the part, for example, about 1.0 cm. When the lower end portion of the shaft body 4 is press-fitted into the mounting concave portion 26, the mounting concave portion 26 is elastically deformed in the diameter increasing direction so that the lower end portion of the shaft body 4 is pressed by the mounting concave portion 26. The lower end portion of the body 4 is attached to the mounting portion 18 of the elastic buffer body 14.

  The side surface of one side 16 of the elastic buffer body 14 extends substantially linearly, and the side surface of the other side 20 extends curvedly outward. The grounded lower end portion 22 of the elastic buffer body 14 is disposed at a position deviated from the axis C of the shaft body 4 toward the other side 20 of the elastic buffer body 14. The ground contact surface 28 of the elastic buffer body 14 is inclined downward from the one side 16 toward the ground lower end 22 on the other side 20, and is somewhat curved downward. Further, an anti-slip concave pattern 30 is provided on the ground contact surface 28 of the elastic shock absorber body 14, and the anti-slip concave pattern 30 is formed from one side 16 of the elastic shock absorber main body 14 at the center of the ground contact surface 28. A first recess pattern 30a extending linearly toward the other side 20, and a second recess pattern 30b extending inclined from one side 16 of the elastic buffer body 14 toward the other side 20 from both sides of the first recess pattern 30a, (See FIG. 2). By providing the anti-slip recess pattern 30 in this way, the grip force of the ground contact surface 28 of the elastic buffer body 14 with respect to the ground 12 is enhanced.

  The shock absorbing space 24 is provided through the elastic buffer body 14 in the width direction (direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIGS. 1 and 3), and along the side surface of the other side 20 of the elastic buffer body 14. The width extends and extends downward. The shock absorbing space 24 is disposed at a position deviated from the axis C of the shaft body 4 toward the other side 20 of the elastic buffer body 14, and the lower end of the shock absorbing space 24 extends from one side 16 of the elastic buffer body 14 to the other side. It is inclined downward toward the side 20.

  Further, the width D1 of the divided portion 16 on one side of the elastic shock absorber body 14 divided by the shock absorbing space 24 is configured to be 1.5 to 2.5 cm, and the width D2 of the divided portion 20 on the other side is set to 0.5 to 2.5. Preferably, the width D3 between the grounded lower end 22 on the other side 20 of the elastic buffer body 14 and the axis C of the shaft body 4 is 1.5 to 2.5 cm. (See FIG. 3). The elastic buffer body 14 has a width D4 in the thickness direction of about 2.0 cm (see FIG. 2).

  Next, a method of using the walking stick 2 configured as described above will be described as follows. In the present embodiment, a method for performing Nordic walking using the walking cane 2 will be described. First, the grip body 6 is grasped by hand through the wrist through the strap member 10, and the walking cane 2 is placed on both hands so that the side surface of one side 16 of the elastic cushion body 14 faces forward (leftward in FIGS. 1 and 3). have. When the right arm (or left arm) is moved forward with the left foot (or right foot) in front, and the ground 12 is projected in the vertical direction (vertical direction in FIG. 3) with the walking cane 2, the elastic buffer The lower end 22 of the main body 14 is grounded to the ground 12.

  When the grounding lower end portion 22 of the elastic shock absorber body 14 is grounded to the ground 12 in this way, both sides of the shock absorbing space 24 expand outward (in the left-right direction in FIG. 3), as shown by the one-dot chain line in FIG. That is, one side 16 and the other side 20 of the elastic buffer body 14 are spread outward and elastically deformed, whereby the impact from the ground 12 is absorbed by the shock absorbing space 24. Further, as described above, the shock absorbing space 24 and the grounding lower end portion 22 are disposed at positions deviated from the axis C of the shaft body 4, so that the shock that could not be absorbed by the shock absorbing space 24 is shaft body 4. Therefore, the impact transmitted from the ground 12 to the shaft body 4 is effectively absorbed.

  Thereafter, the right arm (or left arm) is stepped forward, and at the same time, the right arm (or left arm) is moved backward by pushing the walking cane 2 backward with the right arm (or left arm). When the right arm (or left arm) is moved rearward in this way, the shaft body 4 is tilted forward (in the direction indicated by the arrow P in FIG. 3), and almost the entire grounding surface 28 of the elastic buffer body 14 is grounded. 12 is grounded. Since the anti-slip recess pattern 30 is provided on the ground contact surface 28 of the elastic shock absorber body 14, the grip force of the ground shock surface 28 of the elastic shock absorber body 14 to the ground 12 is increased, and the elastic shock absorber main body 14 is in contact with the ground contact surface 28. The ground 28 is prevented from sliding relative to the ground 12. Further, by moving the left arm (or right arm) forward and repeating the above-described operation, the user walks while swinging the pair of walking canes 2 back and forth with both arms.

  For example, when the elastic buffer body 14 deteriorates due to wear of the ground contact surface 28 of the elastic buffer body 14 due to friction with the ground 12, the old elastic buffer body 14 is moved from the lower end of the shaft body 4. It is only necessary to remove and attach a new elastic buffer body 14 to the lower end of the shaft body 4, and the elastic buffer body 14 can be easily replaced with a new one.

  Next, another embodiment of the walking cane will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a lower end portion of a shaft body and an elastic buffer body of a walking stick according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this other embodiment, components that are substantially the same as the components of the above-described embodiment are assigned the same reference numerals, and descriptions thereof are omitted.

  In FIG. 4, in the walking stick 2A of this other embodiment, an impact absorbing member 32 is disposed in the impact absorbing space 24 of the elastic buffer body 14 of the elastic buffer 8A. For example, it is composed of a rubber material having elasticity such as chloroprene rubber and urethane rubber. The hardness of the shock absorbing member 32 is configured to be smaller than the hardness of the elastic buffer body 14, for example, the hardness of the shock absorbing member 32 is configured to be 30 ± 5 degrees, and the hardness of the elastic buffer body 14 is 60 ±. Configured at 5 degrees. The shock absorbing space 24 may be filled with a gel rubber material such as silicon rubber.

  Further, a male screw portion 34 is provided on the outer peripheral surface of the lower end portion of the shaft body 4A, and a female screw portion 36 that is screwed together with the male screw portion 34 on the inner peripheral surface of the mounting recess 26A of the elastic buffer body 14. The lower end portion of the shaft body 4A is elastically cushioned by the male thread portion 34 at the lower end portion of the shaft body 4A and the inner thread portion 36 of the mounting recess 26A of the elastic shock absorber body 14 being screwed together. It is mounted in the mounting recess 26 </ b> A of the body main body 14. Other configurations of the walking cane 2A are the same as those of the walking cane 2 of the above-described embodiment.

  In this other embodiment, when the grounding lower end portion 22 of the elastic buffer body 14 is grounded to the ground so that the walking cane 2A projects the ground (not shown) substantially vertically, both sides of the shock absorbing space 24 are provided. Is expanded outward, and the shock absorbing member 32 is deformed. Thereby, the shock that could not be absorbed by the shock absorbing space 24 is further absorbed by the shock absorbing member 32, and the shock transmitted to the lower end portion of the shaft body 4A can be further reduced, and the shock absorber 8A absorbs the shock. The power can be further increased.

  As mentioned above, although various embodiments of the walking stick according to the present invention and the elastic buffer used for the walking cane have been described, the present invention is not limited to such embodiments, and various types can be performed without departing from the scope of the present invention. Deformation or correction is possible.

  For example, in each of the above embodiments, the case where the walking cane 2 (2A) is used for Nordic walking has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various walking motions such as normal walking and roller skiing or roller skating, for example. Can be used for

  Further, for example, in each of the above embodiments, the lower end portion of the shaft body 4 is press-fitted into the mounting recess 26, or the male thread portion 34 at the lower end portion of the shaft body 4A and the female thread portion 36 of the mounting recess 26A are screwed together. The lower end portion of the shaft body 4 (4A) is configured to be detachably mounted in the mounting recess 26 (26A). However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the lower end portion of the shaft body 4 (4A) and the mounting recess 26 (26A) ) May be fixed together using an adhesive or the like.

  Further, for example, in each of the above embodiments, the anti-slip concave pattern 30 is provided on the ground contact surface 28 of the elastic buffer body 14. However, the anti-slip convex pattern may be provided. Further, the shape of the anti-slip concave pattern 30 can be set as appropriate.

It is a figure which shows the walking stick by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the elastic buffer body of the walking stick of FIG. It is a figure which shows the state which earth | grounded the earthing | grounding lower end part of the elastic buffer of FIG. 2 to the ground. It is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the lower end part and elastic buffer body of the shaft body of the walking stick by other embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

2,2A Walking cane 4,4A Shaft body 8,8A Elastic shock absorber 14 Elastic shock absorber body 18, 18A Mounting portion 22 Grounding lower end portion 24 Shock absorbing space 26, 26A Mounting recess 28 Grounding surface 30 Non-slip recess pattern 32 Shock absorbing member

Claims (8)

In a walking cane comprising a shaft body and an elastic buffer provided at the lower end of the shaft body,
A mounting portion to which a lower end portion of the shaft body is attached is provided at an upper end portion on one side of the elastic buffer body, and a grounding lower end portion is provided at a lower end portion on the other side of the elastic buffer body. An impact absorbing space is provided between the grounding lower end portion, and the grounding surface of the elastic buffer body is inclined downward from one side toward the grounding lower end portion on the other side. Walking cane.   The walking stick according to claim 1, wherein a mounting recess extending downward is provided in the mounting portion of the elastic buffer, and a lower end portion of the shaft body is detachably mounted in the mounting recess. .   The walking cane according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a side surface on the other side of the elastic buffer body is curved outward, and the shock absorbing space extends with its width expanding downward. .   The width of the split part on one side of the elastic buffer divided by the shock absorbing space is 1.5 to 2.5 cm, and the width of the split part on the other side is 0.5 to 1.0 cm. The walking stick according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the walking stick.   The walking cane according to claim 4, wherein a width between the lower end of the ground contact on the other side of the elastic buffer and the axis of the shaft body is 1.5 to 2.5 cm. .   The walking stick according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein an anti-slip concave pattern or an anti-slip convex pattern is provided on the ground contact surface of the elastic buffer.   The shock absorbing member is provided in the shock absorbing space, and the hardness of the shock absorbing member is configured to be smaller than the hardness of the elastic buffer. The walking stick described in 1. An elastic shock absorber attached to the lower end of the walking stick shaft body,
An elastic buffer body, a mounting recess provided extending downward at one upper end of the elastic buffer body, a grounding lower end provided at the lower end of the other side of the elastic buffer body, and the mounting A shock absorbing space provided between the recess and the lower end of the ground contact,
A lower end portion of the shaft body is detachably attached to the mounting recess, and a grounding surface of the elastic buffer body is inclined downward from one side toward the grounding lower end portion on the other side. A characteristic elastic buffer.

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